Yemen repatriates 8 Saudi Al-Qaeda suspects

Yemen has repatriated eight Saudis wanted for suspected links with Al-Qaeda in the second handover of its kind since February, said Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki on Thursday.

“The Kingdom has received eight Saudis wanted for joining Al-Qaeda in Yemen,” he said. “The move comes as part of joint security operations between the two countries and the suspects will be tried in accordance with Saudi laws.”

Two of the suspects had already been jailed and later released from prison in the Kingdom.
Sanaa has also handed over the wife of a detained Saudi Al-Qaeda suspect who was “lured by members of the terrorist network in Yemen into illegally leaving the Kingdom without the knowledge of her family and husband,” he said.

Saudi authorities are on the hunt for dozens of citizens who have joined the group and who are based in Yemen.

Yemeni authorities had handed over 29 wanted Saudis to the Kingdom in February.

Saudi authorities launched a crackdown on the group’s local branch after a wave of deadly Al-Qaeda attacks in the Kingdom between 2003 and 2006.

Former prisoners at the US Guantanamo prison in Cuba who had been extradited to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation in December 2006 had undergone a reform program, but had later escaped to Yemen.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Naif held a meeting on Wednesday, which included senior security officials from several sectors, to discuss the latest developments in the region.

Prince Mohammed also assessed services and security measures during Ramadan, which will be applied during the Haj season in Makkah and Madinah, according to Al-Arabiya.